Islam Makhachev’s reign on top of the 155-pound division isn’t going anywhere just yet.
The UFC Lightweight Champion and pound-for-pound top MMA fighter kept his dominant reign alive on Saturday night, looking every part of a -1200 favorite en route to a quick victory against short-notice opponent Renato Moicano.
Makhachev took Moicano down half a round into their lightweight title fight on Saturday evening from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, USA. On the mat he put an end to UFC 311 with a D’Arce Choke, receiving a tap from Moicano and wrapping up the evening’s main event in just over four minutes.
“I’m always looking for a finish … If my opponent gives me a small chance, I will close the night,” Makhachev said in his post-fight interview.
The original plan for Saturday night wasn’t for Makhachev to dispose of the division’s 10th-ranked contender in mere minutes. Instead, he was primed to face top-ranked lightweight Arman Tsarukyan in a rematch of their 2019 non-title meeting.
But plans changed on Friday after a back injury took Tsarukyan out of the lineup, delaying his long-awaited chance at the champ and causing the promotion to scramble with a little over 24 hours until showtime.
To keep Makhachev on the lineup they gave Moicano, who was initially booked to face Beneil Dariush lower on the card, a chance at the champ. While he had little time to prepare for the hardest opponent you can face in the sport currently, for Moicano it was an opportunity that in most circumstances he would still be numerous wins away from earning.
“I’m very sad,” Moicano said afterward. “I spent my whole life for this moment and I tapped in the first round. Islam was much better than me today. I have so much to say but now is not the right time. I’m not done. I don’t know if I will ever get a chance like that again, but I will try my best.”
Moicano, while 10th at lightweight, was coming off stoppage wins from last year over notable opponents Benoit Saint-Denis and Jalin Turner.
Makhachev is now the only lightweight in UFC history to have defended their title four times. He has gone to war against all-time greats earlier in his run, submitting Dustin Poirier late in a five-round battle last year and previously getting past Alexander Volkanovski in a pair of meetings.
With another commanding performance in the books, 33-year-old Makhachev remains on top of the MMA world.
Dvalishvili Outlasts Nurmagomedov In Five-Round Classic
Merab Dvalishvili’s otherworldly pace allowed him to put together a comeback win against Umar Nurmagomedov, winning via unanimous decision and holding onto the UFC Bantamweight Championship in Saturday’s co-main event.
Nurmagomedov found himself up two rounds to none on a pair of official scorecards after 10 minutes of action, putting him just one frame away from essentially guaranteeing a decision win against the champ.
Due to the sharp striking of Nurmagomedov—which had led the dance through two rounds, scoring clean and marking up the champ’s face—it looked like a title change was on the way. But Dvalishvili was able to turn things around later in the fight, slowly gaining more momentum until he had fully swung the bout in his favor.
Dvalishvili started to win more striking exchanges as the fight progressed, swarming Nurmagomedov with his uglier but more effective combinations. And crucially, after finding little success with his takedowns early in the fight, Dvalishvili started to relentlessly attack the challenger with his wrestling.
While Nurmagomedov was known for his stellar ability to defend takedowns, Dvalishvili put him on the mat numerous times in the championship rounds. It was this output from the champ—including a dozen takedown attempts in the fifth round alone—that wore on Nurmagomedov, tiring him out and leaving him unable to answer back with anything significant for large portions of the bout.
Dvalishvili won over judges by the end of the fight, taking a three-rounds-to-two advantage on a pair of scorecards to keep his title reign alive.
This weekend saw Dvalishvili enter as the underdog, with oddsmakers predicting that his time as champ would come to an end before he could defend his belt once. Instead, the run that has seen him beat legends like Jose Aldo, Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo before going on to dethrone Sean O’Malley last September only continues to roll on.
Nurmagomedov had his lengthy 18-fight undefeated record broken on Saturday, a run which included six UFC wins. He quickly rose to prominence at bantamweight in recent years, but it was his five-round performance last August against high-level contender Cory Sandhagen which truly elevated him to title contender status in the division.
Here are the quick results from UFC 311:
Main Card (10:00PM EST / 7:00PM PST) (PPV)
Bout 13: Islam Makhachev def. Renato Moicano via Submission, D’Arce Choke (RD 1, 4:05) (UFC Lightweight Championship)
Bout 12: Merab Dvalishvili def. Umar Nurmagomedov via Decision, Unanimous (UFC Bantamweight Championship)
Bout 11: Jiri Prochazka def. Jamahal Hill via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 3:01)
Bout 10: Jailton Almeida def. Serghei Spivac via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:53)
Bout 9: Reinier de Ridder def. Kevin Holland via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 3:31)
Preliminary Card (8:00PM EST / 5:00PM PST) (ESPNews / ESPN+)
Bout 8: Raoni Barcelos def. Payton Talbott via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 7: Azamat Bekoev def. Zach Reese via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 3:04)
Bout 6: Bogdan Guskov def. Billy Elekana via Submission, Guillotine Choke (RD 2, 3:33)
Bout 5: Grant Dawson def. Diego Ferreira via Decision, Unanimous
Early Prelims (6:00PM EST / 3:00PM PST) (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 4: Ailin Perez def. Karol Rosa via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 3: Muin Gafurov def. Rinya Nakamura via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 2: Bernardo Sopaj def. Ricky Turcios via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 1: Tagir Ulanbekov def. Clayton Carpenter via Decision, Unanimous
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